SHAMBHALA SUN MARCH 2008
102
TheVillage
Zendo
2008
Spring/Summer
Practice
Mondays at 6
Beginning Instruction
Monthly
All Day Retreats
March 12-16
Urban Sesshin
May 12-25
Visit 'Zen Japan' with
Roshi Enkyo
July 23- August 24
Summer Ango
at the Grail
The Village Zendo
588 Broadway, suite 910
New York, NY 10012
www.villagezendo.org
registrar@villagezendo.org
A TRUTHFUL HEART: Buddhist Practices for Connecting with Others
By Jeffrey Hopkins
Snow Lion Publications, 2008; 190 pp., $14.95 (paper)
A Truthful Heart addresses the same broad topic as Awakening Through Love and covers some
of the same ground in terms of theory and method. It’s also written by a Tibetan Buddhist
scholar–practitioner. But the two books are distinct, and you’d be well served to read both
if the subject interests you. Jeffrey Hopkins, a professor emeritus of Tibetan and Buddhist
studies at the University of Virginia and a longtime interpreter for and collaborator with the
Dalai Lama, takes a traditional, step-wise approach to the complete doctrine of Buddhism,
from practicing equanimity to realizing emptiness. These practices are central to Hopkins’
life, and he gives an unprecedented, vivid account of his own incremental transformation.
The lens of personal experience makes A Truthful Heart an accessible and practical text.
MAPPING THE DHAMMA: A Concise Guide to the Middle Way of the Buddha
By Paul Gerhards
Parami Press, 2007; 120 pp., $15.95 (paper)
The earliest Buddhist scriptures, which were originally passed down orally, included
aural cues (such as repetitive phrases and repeating numbers) to help practitioners re-
member and recite them. Today, our skill in using mnemonic devices is often undevel-
oped and it can be hard to keep straight the many lists of truths and factors and their
various constituents in the Buddhist canon (the four noble truths, the five hindrances,
the ten perfections, the twelve links of dependent origination, and so on and so on).
Visual learners will especially welcome this useful little book by Paul Gerhards, who has
organized the Buddha’s basic teachings “by the numbers” and provided a map of how
they interrelate. He also gives a brief explanation of each list and each member of each
list. If the map were the territory, this guide would be all you would need. ♦
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